Advertisements are one form of publication that advertisers love to use to seek attention from the mass. Advertisement runs in all sorts of form. These advertisers can spread the love of their product through television, public posters, pamphlets, radio and now, even online. As consumers, we might not have noticed it but advertisers do actually have a special technique that they use to influence our interest and desires. The secret lies within the use of subliminal messaging. Some says that the use of subliminal messaging is highly useful and beneficial, but some beg to differ. SO, let us judge and find about subliminal messaging in advertising and its adverse effects.

Advertisers believe that it is necessary that they make great use of the 10-15 second. So of course their advertisements are made such that they are able to reach to the mass and influence them with the 10-15 seconds of airtime. What is the secret to doing this? Embed subliminal messages into their advertisements.These subliminal messages that are embedded into advertisements can be pretty subtle in content. Some are just simple pictures or words, but some can be as explicit as contents that you will find in R21 movies. Words like “SEX” and sexual objects are said to be one of the most popular used items in advertisements.

What’s the rational behind using these explicit subliminal messaging? It is believed that these explicit contents are usually used in advertisements that promote vacation and holiday trips. It is somewhat believed that by detecting these subliminal messaging, it effects us subconsciously and triggers interest and certain acts of desires which we may not have noticed consciously.

But we must not forget, these advertisements are usually displayed in places or medium where it is reachable and accessible to everyone. So, imagine the side effects that it will have on our innocent amateurs! We definitely cannot blame these teenager for the scaling numbers in teenage pregnancies et cetera.

Give YouTube a search on subliminal advertising today, and you will find out that most of the advertisements have sprinkles of sexual content in them! It just needs a little bit of imagination, that’s all.

In the recent Iron Chef America show, a huge uproar was caused when a viewer caught the subliminal picture of McDonalds’ ever-famous golden arches in one frame during the show. Although the picture was only flashed for 1/30000 second, people criticized McDonalds for the subliminal messaging efforts. However, McDonalds insisted that they do not do subliminal messaging.

But, there are a few good subliminal messages that do exist (thank god!). Like how shopping centres play Muzak, which contain subliminal messages like “I am honest” and “I will not steal” to reduce the amount of cases for shoplifting.

But some prefers to view advertisements just the way it is. When you put a tainted brain and an advertisement together, even the most innocent advertisement can turn explicit! As consumers, we should learn to take everything with a pinch of salt. These advertisers are just doing their job anyway.